Episode 1 of BBC Two’s new three-part series on the Boleyn family – The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family – aired on Friday 13th August, and episodes 2 and 3 have already been released on BBC iPlayer. It is a wonderful series and well worth watching because it introduces a very different Boleyn family.
Gone are the Boleyns of myth, and in their place are the Boleyns of history. It’s very refreshing to see a series willing to put these long-held beliefs to one side and talk to historians who are dedicated to peeling back the layers and getting to the truth about these historical characters.
The series is only three episodes long and I’m sure it will leave viewers wanting to know more about the Boleyns, so I thought I’d write a list of resources on Anne Boleyn and her family. These are just a few resources, I could go on for ever and apologies to those I’ve missed!
Here you go!
Books
These are my top picks and this list certainly isn’t exhaustive.
- The Boleyns of Hever Castle (MadeGlobal Publishing, 2021) – a new book by Owen Emmerson and Claire Ridgway, which looks at the Boleyn family, who owned Hever Castle for 77 years, and tells their story through their home. See https://getbook.at/boleynhever
- Among the Wolves of Court: The Untold Story of Thomas and George Boleyn by Lauren Mackay (Bloomsbury Academic, 2020) – A dual biography of Thomas Boleyn and George Boleyn, father and brother of Anne Boleyn. See https://amzn.to/2W1NEy3
- George Boleyn: Tudor Poet, Courtier and Diplomat (MadeGlobal Publishing, 2014) – A biography of George Boleyn, Anne Boleyn’s brother and a very gifted man, by Clare Cherry and Claire Ridgway. See http://getbook.at/george-boleyn
- My books on Anne Boleyn – The Anne Boleyn Collection, The Anne Boleyn Collection II and The Anne Boleyn Collection III, which are collections of articles on Anne Boleyn and her family, and The Fall of Anne Boleyn: A Countdown, which gives a day-by-day account of Anne Boleyn’s dramatic fall in 1536. See http://viewauthor.at/claireridgway
- My top pick for a biography of Anne Boleyn is The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn by Eric Ives (Wiley Blackwell, 2005). This is what I call the Anne Boleyn ‘Bible’. It’s so very comprehensive. See https://amzn.to/2UtY3lR
- Jane Boleyn: The True Story of the Infamous Lady Rochford by Julia Fox (Ballantine Books, 2007) – An excellent biography of the much-maligned Jane Boleyn, which helps to dispel the myths that surround her. See https://amzn.to/3gdaSZm
- Jane Parker: The Downfall Of Two Tudor Queens? By Charlie Fenton (Chronos Books, 2021) – In this book, which is part of the series, Chronos Crime Chronicles, Charlie Fenton challenges the idea that Jane was jealous of her husband, George Boleyn, and sister-in-law, Anne Boleyn, and so helped bring them down. See https://amzn.to/3gdbyhm
- The Anne Boleyn Papers by Elizabeth Norton (Amberley Publishing, 2013) – A collection of primary sources, including letters, extracts from chronicles and dispatches, about Anne Boleyn. See https://amzn.to/2XDiWMD
- The Boleyn Women: The Tudor Femmes Fatales Who Changed English History by Elizabeth Norton (Amberley Publishing, 2013) – In this book, historian Elizabeth Norton considers the women of the Boleyn family, beginning with the heiresses Alice Bracton Boleyn, Anne Hoo Boleyn and Margaret Butler Boleyn. See https://amzn.to/3iWuumb
- In the Footsteps of Anne Boleyn by Sarah Morris and Natalie Grueninger (Amberley Publishing, 2015) – This book allows readers to walk in the footsteps of Anne Boleyn by giving details of the places that were part of her story. See https://amzn.to/3maGrXp
- For Mary Boleyn, there are biographies written by Alison Weir – https://amzn.to/3ge9TrU – and Josephine Wilkinson – https://amzn.to/2W4UHXc – but very little is actually known about her. See our Mary Boleyn Resources for more on her.
Podcasts
- Talking Tudors podcast – https://talkingtudors.podbean.com/ – Natalie has episodes on Anne Boleyn and the Boleyn family, among her wonderful Tudor podcast episodes.
- Single Malt History – https://anchor.fm/gareth-russell – Historian Gareth Russell has episodes on the Boleyns among his excellent offerings.
- The Tudor Travel Guide – https://thetudortravelguide.com/podcast/ – Sarah Morris has had episodes on Anne Boleyn and places linked to her in her interviews that get behind the scenes and tells the stories of the most beloved Tudor places and artefacts.
- Not Just the Tudors – https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/not-just-the-tudors/id1564113869 – Historian Suzannah Lipscomb talks history and although it’s called “Not just the Tudors”, there is, of course, plenty of Tudor history covered, including Anne Boleyn.
Patreon
- Inside Hever Castle – https://www.patreon.com/InsideHeverCastle/posts – Wonderful content to do with Hever Castle, the Boleyn family home, and its history.
The Anne Boleyn Files
This blog has many thousands of articles about Anne Boleyn and her family, and you can find out about different members of her family by using the “Categories” tab in the side menu.
There is also the Anne Boleyn Files and Tudor Society YouTube Channel which has the following playlists, as well as lots of other Tudor history videos:
Other Anne Boleyn blogs include https://onthetudortrail.com/Blog/, https://throughtheeyesofanneboleyn.wordpress.com/, https://queenanneboleyn.com/, and https://anneboleynreflections.wordpress.com/.
There are lots and lots of Anne Boleyn-related Facebook groups and pages too, and the same with Twitter and Instagram – far too many to list here – so do have a browse.
If you run an Anne Boleyn or Boleyn-related blog, podcast, social media page etc. then please do feel free to share it in the comments below.
